Comments on: Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel

By: Station Eleven | Necromancy Never Pays

Station Eleven | Necromancy Never Pays — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 16:46:20 +0000

[…] to the three bloggers who made me realize I could not wait any longer to read it–Jenny at Reading the End, Ana at Things Mean A Lot, and Stefanie at So Many […]

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:11:56 +0000

Love Jenny’s phrase “potato peeler of the human spirit.” I think the skillful plotting of Station Eleven was able to peel some of those layers off by showing what other characters thought of one character, and why. The revelation about the prophet, in particular, was terribly sad.
I loved this book so much I’m having trouble thinking about how to write about it.

By: Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 02:26:40 +0000

I’m 100 percent with you on skillful plotting. I just read a book that was lots of lovely sentences, but the back-and-forth of the plot just didn’t hang together. it’s really hard to do that, and do it in a way where the connections feel, as you say, inevitable, rather than just convenient. This book did that beautifully.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 21:29:33 +0000

I just got this from the library! I am seriously excited to read this one.

By: Gin Jenny

Gin Jenny — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 19:57:33 +0000

In reply to helen. What do you cry about in post-apocalypse stories? Is it cause people's relatives tend to die in those books? (Very fair if so.) British covers ARE quite fond of silhouettes and cut-outs. I'm often on board with them. I like silhouettes and cut-outs! But in this case, I think it's done a little boringly.

By: Jenny @ Reading the End

Jenny @ Reading the End — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 19:48:56 +0000

In reply to Charlotte. Choice approved!

By: Jenny @ Reading the End

Jenny @ Reading the End — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 19:47:54 +0000

In reply to Riv @ Bookish Realm. I might agree with you about the UK cover. I'm trying to judge the covers on a balance between aesthetic appeal and relevance to the book in question. It can be tricky. I'm not sure what I would choose between those two things! Hm. I'm going to have to think about it.

By: Jenny @ Reading the End

Jenny @ Reading the End — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 19:44:34 +0000

In reply to Sarah Says Read. AHA SARAH you have happened upon the very reason for my whole cover comparison project. There is a mythology about British covers being better than American covers, and I think it is false! At the very least, American and British covers are closely balanced in quality. I will back up this opinion with statistics in my 2014 wrap-up post. AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU COMMENTED.

By: Jenny @ Reading the End

Jenny @ Reading the End — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 19:42:53 +0000

In reply to Emily Crowe.

That’s what I thought! The UK cover isn’t bad, but it’s generic — it could be a boo kabout anything!

I’m glad you like the author overall, btw, because I’m recommending one of Emily St. John Mandel’s previous book for our podcast soon. My last few recommendations have been less than great, so I feel overdue for a winning book.

By: Jenny @ Reading the End

Jenny @ Reading the End — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 19:41:45 +0000

In reply to james b chester.

Hahahaha, yes, I guess canned goods would be hard to carry around in an apocalypse. They’re good if you’re sticking in one place, and they’re good — and this is what I was talking about, I swear — if you’re hunkering down for a storm.

It’s good, I promise. Worth reading.